


Stuck

by RoseWick



Category: RWBY
Genre: Dead Parents, Mentioned Junior, Mentioned Ozpin, Mentioned Qrow, Mentioned Yang, Possible Comfort?, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:06:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11773239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseWick/pseuds/RoseWick
Summary: Roman simply wanted a drink in relative peace without risk of being bothered, but luck had other plans.(Otherwise known as, Roman goes drinking and finds the last person he expected to see absolutely shitface drunk.)Clearly, this is an AU, though I'd say roughly mid season three if you want a contextual viewpoint





	Stuck

**Author's Note:**

> Now, before I begin, I just want to say this is based off a roleplay I did, so characters may be a bit out of character, maybe? Dunno. First real fanfic I've done,

Roman had had a rather long and stressful day, rather unsurprising really, considering his work. Probably most famous criminal that isn't an organization. Merely a kingpin of the underworld itself if you think about it. Yet he did as he needed to do. Be it settling gang disputes or strangling any branching out he didn't approve of, he had to often do things himself. Hard to find good help nowadays, really. Least he had a tight inner circle he could count on if he really needed any help. Junior, not only for his minions but also for his job as an information broker. He could determine the success or failure of an operation before it even began with the flow of information given out. Next, was Neo. One of the best fighters he's seen really, and probably longest friend he's had, not to mention extremely dependable. Be it assassinations, exterminations, infiltration, interrogations, raids, or even takeovers of gangs back in the early days, she came back successful. He even had some, but only some, ties and connections in the White Fang. Why? Even if he didn't really like Faunus, some can be rather useful for him. Like Perry, real smart kid when it comes to technology.

However, at this moment? None of that mattered. Sure, they were rather important to him, perhaps in some obscene and unofficial way, perhaps even his family. Right now though, he was busy avoiding them. At least once a week, he'd disappear, dress up a bit less stylishly then usual... and just sit in a rundown part of town drinking and watching. He wanted to see the impact he had, trying to organize every criminal in the entirety of Vale. He wanted to see if things were at least... tolerable for those the 'upper' class never bothered to even look at beyond a disgusted look akin to finding a particularly large bug or disgusting wad of gum stuck to their shoe. Something to scrape away and forget. It made his blood boil at times, but that's the way the world works. It beats you down again and again until eventually, you fight back. Do whatever it takes to survive. Which reminded him... carefully he pulled Melodic Cudgel a bit closer, leaning back against a crumbling stone wall as he tilted back a bottle of whiskey. He may be the kingpin... but there's always some bloke willing to try and snatch it all away from him.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey~" An oddly familiar female voice cut through the relatively silent streets, a red blur managing to stop somewhat far from him. Enough for him to see... What was she doing here? Didn't he deal with her enough as it was? The rather young huntress in training stumbled and staggered her way over, barely avoiding falling on top of him. Was she drunk?

"Why do you... you look like a pumpkin?! Are you actually a pumpkin in disguiiise?" She looked and sounded so pleased at this sudden... revelation. Somehow this was something that amused her drunken brain greatly. He could tell from the very telltale smell of her breath, that's she's been hitting the bottle... hard. Like uncle like niece, he supposed. He'll just use this time to mess with her. He wasn't on the job at the moment, not to mention he was meant to be laying low since the breakout. Murdering not just a huntress in training, but one who he has personal grudges against, when people knew he was out on the loose again. Not the publicity he needed... For now.

"Well... I'm actually a pumpkin disguised as a person disguised as a pumpkin disguised as a person who is not a pumpkin, understand?" He tilted his head, smirking slightly. So easy. Talk fast and be confusing, and boom. He outwitted a drunk. As he celebrated this victory, Ruby began to teeter, her balance threatened by the probably copious amounts of alcohol she consumed, considering her size, estimating the average amount of alcohol in common drinks... Yeah, she's probably shitfaced drunk because he doubted she could handle her alcohol. You never know, to be honest. From what Junior taught him when he'd fill in for him, and from stories about Yang and Qrow, she may just literally have alcohol in her blood? Not a single clue. Note to self, dig into Patch's history to find out how much that family drank. Qrow is just going to be labelled as a metric fuck load. It's surprising Qrow isn't just 95% alcohol yet...

"Uhh... I dunno what you're talking about Pumpkin Head. I mean... look at that toupee!" Did she just... she just insinuated he wore a toupee! How dare she! Damn lucky she's drunk and he needs to lay low. He instead put a hand on his chest, widening his eyes and letting out a little gasp for drama's sake.

"Toupee?! How dare you! I'll have you know this is all natural, unlike you and your red tips, Strawberry." He returned back to a small smirk, moving to take another sip. "You can't expect me to believe you don't dye them. Too bright of a red to just be natural like that." There are people with blue and green hair, he's just fucking with her. Though she seemed more offended then he did. How drunk can she be? No idea.

"They're natural too... I dunno 'bout you but... reeeeeeeeed is in style, Crayooooooooola box! You also," She actually hiccuped here, like seriously? "Stink." Well, that's an insult. "Keep taaaaaaaalking Mister Fashion Designer, nobody's gonna buy your line of... clothes." Well... that's two new insults he's never had directed to him. His gaze fell down to his own jacket, critically observing it before nodding in self satisfaction. He thought it looked nice.

"Oh, I'm the one who stinks Little Red? Odd..." He put his hand in front of his nose, waving it slowly. "Mine isn't the breath that absolutely reeks of alcohol!" Yes, he'd be judging her for this. Why? Is she even old enough to be out drinking? Probably not. Either got it from her Uncle in some form, or perhaps even did what her Sister did and intimidated someone into giving it to her. That oversized gardening tool of hers isn't exactly the most veiled threat to somebody else. Cold steel against your throat as a little girl smiles and asks for alcohol would probably result in caving into the demands and maybe a discreet call to the cops. Depends on how seedy the bar is and their standing with the cops. Of course, considering his considerable empire and how it used bars to stretch out even further... Yeah, he'd know if that's how she got it most likely, unless she robbed some high end bar, which would've been a very bad idea if she didn't want to be caught and arrested.

"I don't... smell like alcohol... d-don't lie ya big l... lug!" Wow, she's really eloquent with her insults and words. Perhaps she should be the smooth talking criminal here? Pfft, as if that'd ever actually happen considering she'd be chewed up and spat out with the criminal world. Almost as if the universe was trying to give him more ammo against her, she began to stumble... without even taking a step. Just... wow. Such coordination.

"Not drunk you say? I dunno, I can still smell that alcohol from here, and don't get me started on how I'm fairly certain you're going to fall in a few minutes..." He shook his head. He'd be responsible for her, for now. Until she's in a safer part of town anyways. It'd be dangerous to leave a drunk huntress out here. Too many criminals and very little chances that they'd all simply accept his order not to touch her. There's a struggle for them to even stop trying to touch Neo. They usually stop when they end up with a broken arm or leg for their troubles... and that's just the ones who attempt. Been putting cleaners to use when one of them actually does touch her.

"Stop makin' fun of me, alllllriiight? I know what I'm doing, I am not a kid! I drink... milk! And... Booze, so I'm big enough!" She sounded so angry and annoyed. Apparently he's touched on a sore subject for her... shocking, truly shocking... not really. Unsurprising they consider her a child. Attitude, looks, age... yeah. Not to mention being known as the youngest Huntress in training at Beacon? Yeah, pretty much asking for it. Her gaze slowly fell to the floor, "I ain't got to answer to yoooou anyhoooooows..."  
Anyhows? Absolutely amazing.

"Making fun of you?" He couldn't help but smirk, raising an arm over his eyes as he dramatized and exaggerated his surprise and disbelief. "Oh, how you wound me Red! I would never mock you in such a way!" He frowned. "I'm merely looking out for you. You're not your Uncle after all, most people aren't expecting you to be struggling to even walk around. You're a huntress, not some drunk coming from the bar."

"I dooooooooon't care! People always... treat me like a," Another hiccup. Just great. "Kid! I oooverheard my Uncle say he does it to forget... So I wanna forget... It's not really woorking though..." She frowned, shaking her head. "So I kept trying until I feeelt something!" Wow, that's a good way to possibly get alcohol poisoning for some. Oh well, not his job to worry about this right now. She seemed to hunch over, getting a bit tired out. "Eugh, if you're just gonna keeeeep makin' fun of me, I'll just go waaaalk somewhere else where I'm appreciated!" She huffed, crossing her arms.

Roman couldn't help but facepalm, the leather of his glove hitting his face firmly. "Little Red, Little Red... you don't have much to forget. You're still young, perhaps not a kid but you're still young." He patted the ground next to him. This stupid Huntress needs to learn a lesson. "Chances are, your Uncle is drinking to forget about deaths he feels responsible for... perhaps something he could've stopped or prevented with any action. No need to copy him... yet." He sounded just slightly bitter. He remembered a time he tried drinking to forget. It didn't work in the slightest.

Oddly enough, Ruby seemed to understand what he wanted. She stumbled over to the spot next to him and began to try and sit. Try being the key word there since she eventually just faceplanted on the ground. Thankfully there wasn't any glass there, or some needle or any number of objects that one could find on the ground in a seedy area. So many options to be quite honest. "W-well... My Uncle d-doesn't... talk to me about anything! I really just want to see Mom... I... I get a little jealous whenever I see little kids with their moms throwing tantrums..." She frowned, looking down. Oh great, is he in for some huge life story?

"That's... kind of the point of drinking to forget Red. You don't talk about it, you drown the thoughts in booze until you can't even think about it so as to avoid the topic entirely." He closed his eyes as he debated something, before shrugging. "I suppose I could understand though, I used to be the same way. I wanted more than anything to be able to see my parents again..."

"So... does that mean I should drink more? I tried drinkin' enough that Uncle Qrow wouldn' notice some missin'... If I drink more he'd probably notice..." She murmured, looking away. Her eyes seemed to widen though as she went back to look at him. "W-wait... you had a mom?! Did she have orange skin?!" Oh gods, the Pumpkin Mom. He'd probably hit her if she wasn't drunk and he hadn't had something to drink as well.

"Red, I'd say perhaps not drink some more for now... Best not to go too far past your limit. Not to mention, your alcoholic Uncle is probably quite aware of how much he had of what, so he'll probably notice that some of his alcohol is missing." Let's be honest, the man probably has them all counted and has specific bottles he'll be drinking from on certain days... "No, she had normal skin. Remember, not a pumpkin." He gestured to himself.

Slowly, Ruby rose to sit up, pouting. "I will paaaaasss all my liiiiimits to become the best Huntress in eeeeeeverything!" She kicked her feet out. "Naaaaaah... Drunkle Qrow sometimes even forgets where he puts his flask... He'll not notice." She tilted her head to look up at him, confused. "Was she a nice mom too? Doesn't sound like it if you do a buncha crimes..." She is very lucky she has a pass at the moment. He'll beat her harshly next time they fought.

Roman sighed softly, eyes closed as he set his drink down after a final sip. "I'd not know if she was a very good one... she died during birth." It was rare for him to ever actually speak softly about anything. But this? This was an old wound that he did his best to just ignore. Mother issues. "Also, I don't think drinking is a good idea for a Huntress, perhaps don't try to beat your Uncle in being the best at being drunk on the job."

"What happened to her? Why'd she die so early then?" Wow, just direct and to the point. Extremely good job Red. Slowly, she turned around, facing his drink as she reached out to try and grab it. Gently, he pinned her hand down with his own, shaking his head. He'd not be sharing his drink with her.

"Not everyone survives giving birth Red... especially when you're poor and have to find the cheapest place willing to help deliver it..." There were actually tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes. He always got a bit emotional when he spoke about this subject, and the alcohol made his tongue a little more loose than usual. Hopefully Little Red didn't remember a lot of this conversation.

"That... sooounds preeeeeetty bad..." She made grabby gestures to try and grab his drink, staring at the limb preventing her from doing so blankly. "My mom got killed on a mission... Uncle Qrow always keeps blaming himself because he thought that he could have gone with her but she didn't want the help anyways. Dad doesn't talk about it and blames himself too..."

He couldn't help but shake his head at her grabby hand. Seriously? She expected him to not treat her like a kid, and then she pulls this? If she wasn't trying to get to his drink and maybe risk alcohol poisoning, he'd probably have found it cute. "I suppose in a group of Huntsmen, letting one go alone could be seen as letting them die, since they're trained as pairs and groups." He moved his drink a bit further away. "Though nothing they can do if they were told to not go."

"T-the mission didn't account for anyone else to go... Qrow and Dad had already taken on jobs as teaching and w-were too busy to go... Mom had been going on missions alone all the time so... they d-didn't... seem like something bad a-at the time..." She frowned, gently tapping on his hand with the free one, asking him silently to release her hand, which he did.

"Well then, if the mission didn't account for them to go, and they were busy, they couldn't have done anything about it. When you become a Huntsman, you have to accept the fact you'll probably die and lose others." Callous, but true. If you couldn't have done anything, beating yourself up over something you knew could possibly happened seemed a bit stupid and childish to him in all honesty. That's like lamenting the destruction of a favorite item when you constantly abuse it. Of course it'll break eventually. In this case the thing was a person, and it was more destruction instead of simply breaking, but the point still stands as far as he could tell.

"Well..." She began, chin resting on the cold concrete beneath her. "If... If only... They always just wonder 'what if?' They always wonder... what if Mom had s-somebody to go with her..." She looked like she was about to cry. "I know that it's dangerous... b-but we always just accept it... thinking nothing is going to happen and when it does..." A small whine left her lips. "I-it hurts..." This was just pitiful to look at. Carefully, he gave her a small hug. He didn't like her, she wasn't a friend, but... he could sympathize with her issues, and wished he had someone to help him or just hug him when he went through this, so he'd be here for her, for now.

"And that's why your Uncle drinks to forget. Why he'd rather stay consistently drunk or buzzed. It's hard to focus on the 'what if' when you can't even keep your own thoughts straight. When you lose someone, it's bound to hurt, but..." Roman about to drop some wisdom down on you. "Remember this, Red. They'd probably prefer you continue on strong, for them. Remember them and do better for them. Become stronger so that you don't lose somebody else the same way."

"T-to... do better? Yeah... i know that... I just..." She took a deep breath, eyes still watery. "Is that... Is that why the strongest, the most powerful people... Are the ones who stay quiet?" Wow, an actually intelligent and thought provoking question. That should be a surprise for someone like her in her current state. "Does... every strong person have some really dark past or secrets... that they lost a lot of people and got stronger to... s-stop that from happening again?" She seemed to understand. "D-Doesn't that sound like a curse? Knowing that no matter how strong you get... you'll never bring them back? And if you were to tell others of the... b-burden that you shoulder... that you'll bring them down?" Wow, she really was pursuing this thought. "You're... you're stuck. You can't do anything about it because you're scared you'd bring others down... so you're lonely. In a group of people with nobody who'll understand..."

"That's exactly it Red." She managed to actually be smart for once, and that was a truly amazing fact if you ask him. His voice was soft once more, and he closed his eyes. He sincerely hoped Red didn't remember this. He'd not be willing to sit down and discuss life and emotions with Red every single time that she needed it. That'd hurt his own job, and he wasn't exactly interested in helping her with that every single time. Even if he could do it well, he has other things to do. "The strong are never the ones who haven't lost anyone. They're too comfortable with the idea they can't fail. The strong are the ones who lose somebody and keep on moving. Strong mentally, holding onto the guilt for the death and still able to push on and try to enjoy life for them. Physically stronger, to try and prevent it from happening again, to perhaps try and save somebody that they care about. Everyone understands loss, but never in the same ways." Wise words. "Loneliness is always going to happen at some point, it's a feeling. No matter how many others are around, if you feel alone in something, you'll feel lonely."

Ruby went quiet, simply taking in these words. She understood it, somewhat. Life was unfair, and hardships were always there. There's no real way to prevent it. "But... you can't be everywhere at once... You'd always want to make sure everyone is fine... But you can't be there for someone else while you're already helping someone else... so how much can you take? How many times can you fail until you finally cave in?"

He smiled sadly. "You know, I'm actually a pretty good example for that, Little Red." He chuckled softly, shaking his head despite how it messed up his hair slightly. "I lost my mother at birth, as I said. I lost an older sister and my father when he turned to crime to try and feed us, and a deal went bad." He frowned. "i lost everyone who supported me, my chance for a happy life, and the first group of people who took me in..." He shook his head, waving a hand to just kind of dismiss that. "When all you can see is loss, and you can't get over the fear of losing another, that's when you cave and fall. It's when you begin to falter in your efforts."

She seemed to shake in their hug, wrapping her arms around him as she sniffled and whimpered. "W-why didn't you ever say then?!" Her tone had changed, and it wasn't hard to tell the she was crying, even without the growing wetness on his shirt as she buried her face in it. "I t-thought you did all this of t-this because... because you enjoyed this h-horrible stuff!" She really was crying here, unable to restrain herself, apparently. "I... I could've h-helped you... I d-don't care if it'd have been h-hard! You're a good person, who's just s-stuck!" That word, 'stuck'. That's a rather simple word by definition. Meaning you couldn't advance because you were somehow glued somewhere, or fixated to something. In a way, that one word spoke thousands.

In a way, that word described him perfectly in this situation. He had nowhere he could go anymore, he had no more side movements to get off this path. He couldn't advance anymore, having already reached the pinnacle of the criminal world, just shy of becoming a terrorist and breaking into the political world. "Red... it doesn't matter if I said anything or not..." His voice transcended soft, turning to soft and fragile. It could probably break at the softest touch of the wind. "Nobody is born evil, nobody wakes up and just decides to be evil. Yet, once you're far enough down the path, you can't turn back around. I started to do good, get control over crimes and criminals, make things organized and prevent unnecessary loss. I didn't enjoy it, but had to do it. Now that I'm the face of crime, I can't turn back. The second someone finds me, it's either rotting in a cell, or death. That's what my future holds in store for me. Until that time, I can't afford to back down and lose all I worked for..."

"B-but e-everybody d-deserves a second chance... r-right?" She began to say, voice almost as shaky as his was. "Nobody is b-born e-evil, like you said... That means you understand that you can turn back... You just need help to get away! You're not running away... You're just making s-sure that you don't continue this anymore. You can make up for it! It'll be hard, but you'll never know if you don't try, Roman!" Wow, she even used his name. Is she perhaps sobering up slightly? Talk about a sobering conversation...

"Red... I burnt my second chance along with the body of the first Huntsman who tried to bring me in after I killed him." He sighed and shook his head. "Even if you could convince every single high ranking person in charge of my case, they'd still have to punish me. It's the will of the people at this point. I can't turn back now, or else everything I worked for would crumble and burn. In-fighting will start to try and take my position as the kingpin, and suddenly crime is everywhere, gangs forming and families torn apart... Stopping this is the only way to even try and begin to make up for all I've done. The murders, the robberies, the absolute destruction of businesses and livelihoods." He's thought about this a lot, to be honest.

"N-not my second chance then... n-not mine! A second, second chance Roman!" Wow, she thought she was important enough for her second chance to matter... at all. Slowly, she pulled herself from the hug to glare at him. "Maybe... maybe you don't know the way out, maybe not yet?" She was persistent, it seems. "You gotta give it a try, if you don't, I'll... b-beat you up until you understand!" Most unthreatening glare and threat he's ever received.

"Oh, you'll beat me up?" He rose an eyebrow, smirking at this silly girl. As if she'd be able to beat him up. She has speed, he's just a very good defensive fighter. He'd win in the end. "What's next? Tie me up, drag me to Ozpin and demand I get a second chance?" He chuckled, shaking his head. That was just absurd to imagine, not to mention he'd be facing execution or jail if she did. "Perhaps he'll even make me a teacher? Then instead of worrying about the good guys hunting me down and killing me or imprisoning me, I just need to worry about every criminal and my associates hunting me down and killing me for betraying them. One cage for the other I suppose." She seemed noticeably less happy about this. Apparently not as amusing for her.

"Yeah... yeah, keep talking. Makes it easier to whoop your butt..." She grumbled, clearly annoyed. Ruby hadn't even begin to think of what she'd actually do to be honest. In this situation, she felt she should probably try reaching the bridge before crossing it. "You can probably change your appearance... it's not that hard. You're pretty easy to see with that stupid toupee on your head..." Oh, this again?

"I've used disguises before Little Red, I know how it works. Also again, natural hair." He took a handful of orange locks, tugging on them slightly to show that it didn't move. "Anyways, a disguise is only so good Red. I'd need new everything. New clothes, new accent and affliction, new looks... faked documents to establish the person and create a new weapon and master it's fighting style so as to be noticed differently if I'm going to fake being a teacher or reasonably protect myself... Could just bribe a combat school, fake some documents and pretend that I went there, hence I learned to fight there." He's thought about a great disguise quite often.

"Okay... I can get you all of that." She just said it so nonchalantly, as if he described a walk in the park instead of a vast array of illegal activities and criminal acts. She seemed steadfast in the opinion that she could help him become better than he is. Her opinion, he supposed. "I can make you a new weapon after aaaaaallllllll, I have the best weapon in Reeeeeemnaaaaant!" She cooed, reaching behind her to run a hand over the currently closed and safe Crescent Rose.

"I'd not exactly say the best... I feel Melodic Cudgel here may just have you beat." He smirked, gesturing to his cane laying besides him. He felt fairly certain he could catch her off guard with it's applications in combat beyond a simple weapon or flare gun. Mix in certain combinations of dust to make those flares more dangerous, use the grapple to knock her down or snare her weapon. No one trick pony here. "Also no, I can't think of anything else I may need, not that it matters. You'll not be able to get all anyways, unless you're into the business of illegal activities." Ruby seemed to roll her eyes at that.

'You think Ozpin hasn't done some dirty business in the past? Come on, even yoooooou should know that!" Roman quirked an eyebrow at such a question and seeming annoyance at his apparent lack of knowledge of it. Probably because Ozpin isn't stupid enough to actually leave a trail. "Beeeeesides, I can modify the cane to have more than thaaaaaat~" She cooed once more, gently reaching out to take his cane, which he refused by a single smack to the hand.

"I'd prefer that you don't touch my cane, alright?" He wasn't exactly willing to allow this red headed weapons lover to mess with something rather key to his safety."Ozpin may be of some use for crafting my disguise, but he'd have no reason to stick his neck out for me. He'd risk losing his position as headmaster of Beacon if they catch him sheltering me."

"Hmmph, your loss! I cooould have made it a much cooooler cane! Might've even lasted you until you got old. Old people sometimes need canes, right?" He honestly was offended by that. As if he'd not have servants to handle things for him when he gets that old. He's saving up money and slowly trickling it back into the economy to turn this illegal money to legal money. Bankers and stock brokers can do it, so can he. She rolled her eyes, head rolling along with it. "Wellll... not if they dooon't catch yoooou, right? Everybody has to do some wrong to do right!" Honestly, she bounces between being intelligent and completely fucking stupid when she's drunk.

He rolled his eyes in return, quite annoyed that she thought to try and make it sound like he's missing out on something. "I'll only allow you to modify my cane... if you allow me to modify your overgrown gardening tool that you call a weapon!" Boom, there you go. She'll never agree, and he'll no longer have to deal with her thinking he missed out on something. Not that that really mattered... arguing with a drunk person never really did mean anything. "If they somehow manage to not catch me, then nothing happens and I live a rather nice double life." She laughed at him.

"Hah! Iiin your dreeeeams! I'm only trying to help, ya big lug!" She 'Hmmphed' and crossed her arms, leveling a glare with him. "Also, no double life! You'd have to stop doing crime, that's why the help is there! You have to stop completely. Otherwise you're risking the work that went into helping you!" As if he didn't know that?

"You expect me to just suddenly stop, and allow crime to practically skyrocket around here? Sit back as gangs tear families apart once again? Just so that I can get away from it?" He wouldn't lie, he sounded a bit angry at the moment, arms crossed. He only started doing this to try and prevent similar stories as his own, not to just step back and let anarchy reign once more.

"N-no!" She waved her hands frantically, trying to convey that she didn't mean that. "It's just.. that makes it harder for you to come clean. How can you be at two places doing that sort of stuff?!" He calmed down slightly, nodding. He understood that much.

"I understand that... but I have to pick someone to succeed me and take over this criminal empire... and keep things organized until they can run things on their own." Then he could at least sleep easy at night. His crimes haven't affected him for a while, but knowing that he ruined untold amount of lives due to the crumbling of a criminal empire he created? He'd never forgive himself, to be honest.

"Then... easier said than done, but you gotta promise... to let me help you." He'd never really understand why she sought to do this. Living a nice, clean life would be nice... but never really something he saw to be possible.

"Fine Red, fine. I'll let you try and help me." Not like he expected her to succeed, and if she did? He could finally give up the hat and coat, and be a normal person again. "Actually... I may have someone in mind to take over... Could even use your sister to keep him in line." He could see gears practically turning in her head, trying to figure it out.

"... What do you mean? That guy she utterly destroyed along with his club?" Wow, so that's how Junior is known to the younger crowd? Ouch.

"Yes, Junior. He's already respected as an information broker, so it should be easy to get people to go along with it." He sighed softly before chuckling. "Not to mention if he acts up, your sister can easily give him a reminder." Neo could as well, but since she'd be probably still at his beck and call, sending her to do something may make them think there's a separate operation going on that he wasn't letting them in on.

"Oh... heh, last I heard, Yang did quite a number on his... 'jewels'." She flinched, just imagining the pain that Junior must've went through. He'd not lie, he cringed as well. He didn't want to imagine what someone who could punch a Paladin to pieces could do to his jewels. She almost leaned in to whisper. "I don't think he can have kids anymore..." She left that thought to settle and weigh on his mind before smiling hopefully. "Well, glad to hear you got that covered... so does that mean you'll do it? You can quit what you're doing... and begin working on getting unstuck?"

Roman sighed softly, and nodded. "Yeah... I think i can. I'll call him after I'm done her-" He'd have continued, but a head hitting his shoulder caused him to look to see a now sleeping Ruby, having passed out. Tsk, tsk. Silly Little Red. Gently, he picked her up, and walked her out this seedy and rundown part of town. He'd not risk going anywhere near Beacon... so instead he took her to Junior's club and set her down in a booth. In the dead of night, the club was long since closed. Spare key. He knew Junior wouldn't do anything to her, nor would he let his men do anything, considering her sister. A safe place. He stepped behind the bar, and simply wrote a simple note out for her.

"Thanks for the talk Red, I'll think about it. You're in Junior's club, he should be willing to take you back to Beacon in the morning. I'd suggest getting some coffee and water when you wake up, deal with that nasty hangover you'll have. Remember, moderation is much better. Take care, Roman." With that note secured to the table in front of her, he stalked off into the night, lighting up a cigar from his case, taking a small drag as he closed his eyes. Hell of a night to drink, he supposed.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, if you're reading this, somehow you managed to sit through all that god awful writing. Feel free to tear me up in the comment section or offer suggestions to try and improve this weak writing.


End file.
